Brooke Shields says Tom Cruise was “cornered by his beliefs” into attacking her over antidepressants

The public feud

Brooke Shields has said she believes Tom Cruise was “cornered by his beliefs” into lashing out at her for using antidepressants. The actors became embroiled in a very public feud back in 2005 after Brooke opened up about her struggles with postpartum depression, with Tom accusing her of spreading “irresponsible misinformation”.

Brooke’s struggle with depression

Brooke, now 57, revealed she had taken anti-depressants following the birth of her daughter Rowan Henchy as she had fallen into a “deep depression”.

Tom’s Scientology beliefs

During a heated Today Show interview, 60-year-old Tom decided it was his duty as a Scientologist who rejects psychiatry to criticise her medication choices. “The thing that I’m saying about Brooke is that there’s misinformation,” he told then-host Matt Lauer. “She doesn’t understand the history of psychiatry.” When Matt challenged him on the issue, Tom controversially responded: “I disagree with it. She doesn’t know what these drugs are, and for her to promote it is irresponsible.”

Brooke’s response

Brooke was in Chicago at the time and her husband Chris Henchy called to tell her what had happened. The actress recalls how her husband urged her to respond, so she said Tom should “stick to fighting aliens” and later wrote an op-ed in The New York Times defending medication. In the piece, Brooke said Tom’s comments were a “disservice to mothers everywhere”. The Top Gun star then apologised.

Tom’s apology

Speaking to The Times about the incident, Brooke said: “He said, ‘I don’t know why I did it. You’ve always been nice to me. I felt cornered.’ By what? His beliefs?” She added: “I said, ‘I don’t really want to get into a discussion about it. You did it — and it did not go well for you’.”

Reunion and reconciliation

The pair, who had worked together on Endless Love, reunited unexpectedly in April 2006. Brooke went into hospital in Los Angeles to give birth to her youngest daughter, Grier Henchy, when she noticed helicopters and news trucks outside. “I was, like, ‘Oh God, can’t they ever leave me alone?’ And the nurse said, ‘Umm, they’re not for you.'”

The media was there for Katie Holmes, who had given birth to her and Tom’s daughter Suri Cruise a few hours earlier. Months later Brooke attended their wedding as a gesture that she and Tom had reconciled. Suri and Grier even celebrated their first birthdays together, but the friendship ended in 2012 when Tom and Katie got divorced, “which changed everything,” Brooke said.

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Credit: https://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/us-celebrity-news/tom-cruises-beliefs-cornered-him-29552106

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